With all the technology advancement on photography, name it monstrous resolution, quick autofocus, superb noise reduction, and many other factors, I admit it is less tempting for me to pace down with old equipments. But wait, this lens made by DJ-Optical known as 7artisans gives me some sort of “you had me at hello” feelings.

Though made for Leica M Mount, with adapter this lens could be paired with other camera brands. In my case, I’m using Sony A7R Mark III. Boasting over 40 megapixels, 10 frames per second, super wide range of ISO, two memory card slots, 4K video. Did I mention all of its features? Please help me do it. This combination is like pairing the past and present. Boom.

My review wouldn’t be that details, so I’ll put some key elements, price, built quality, weight, characteristics, and sample pictures.

Alright, here it is.

Price: the lens costs $369, I bought it at IDR 5.250.000. See their price list on this link.

Built quality: This lens is made of metal barrell with copper plate inside. It’s made in three colors, black, silver, and you’ll be excited about it, gold (it reminds of that fancy phone), which only produced in limited numbers. In the package you’ll find a plastic focus support that can be attached on the lens body and a screwdriver to adjust the focusing ring. Hmm.. interesting. Anyway, turn your focus peaking feature of you have an issue with your eye. Trust me, with F/1.1 it is a big chance you’ll miss your focus. Another thing, the click-less aperture ring is great for making video. Since I don’t, it somehow a challenge for me to pay attention and not losing track on what aperture I’m at.

Weight: this lens is quite small and light compared to my E-mount lenses. No issue with it.

Picture characteristics: frankly speaking, this is not the perfect lens at F1.1, the object will appear soft on the edges, so you’ll be questioning yourself whether or not it’s focused or blurred. It’s a lens you either like it or hate it. For me, I like it’s dreamy characteristics at open wide. Fun lens to have, also that vintage feelings though. The image seems to lose its contrast and saturation, but snap the aperture ring one stop and it will give a different result.

At F/1.4 until F/5.6 I still notice the fairly sharp image on the corner, but this doesn’t bother me.

Sample images: before going further, I would like to thank to Ballet Academy Indonesia for the collaboration especially the principal ballerina, Ms. Anindya Krisna and the soon to be Bolshoi ballerina, Sasha Fadilla.

It’s been a while since my last post on my blog and it’s time to refresh my thumbs. Last week I went to an event called Ennichisai, which organized by Japanese living in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. There are also volunteers involved, both locals and foreigners. This annual event purposely to express their gratitude of the fortune they have made also to show the beauty of Japanese culture. It took place on the crowded alley of Little Tokyo, Blok M.

Here are some of pictures I took on the first day of the event.

Shimizu San is caught again in my frame, and this year his fellow Indonesians take part on his drum-dragging carnaval. This year event marks his eight years living in Indonesia as a tech-consultant. He likes the tropical climate which he perceives good for his health and he’s glad with his slightly tanned skin. Moreover, he enjoys working with his Indonesian co-workers and learning Indonesian. I could say he’s a fluent speaker now. I must learn Japanese in return.

Here are his pictures last year on the same event:

Next, the pictures of the Mikoshi

Mikoshi. It’s a Japanese tradition related to Shinto belief. The portable temple is believed as a place to stay for Shinto gods. During festival such as Matsuri or Ennichisai, the temple will be carried on shoulders by group of male, female, and kids.
What keeps my eyes locked on this parade is the traditional attire these males wearing. Underwear, boxers, and unique shoes.
Fundoshi, or Japanese traditional undergarment for male usually worn on festivals. This guy in the front wearing rokushaku fundoshi, which the oldest types of this underwear. He also wears Tabi, the traditional shoes which cut certain way and installed with thin rubber outsole.

There’s a surprise on the event. Hiromi Kano, notably known for her deep relationship with traditional Javanese music performed as a Sinden, a title given for female Javanese singer. Moreover, she speaks Solo dialect. I’m a Javanese, but I can’t do that, what a shame for me.

Here are some photos of her:

There were many other activities such as cosplay, food bazaar, band audition, and flash mob. But, the Bonten Taiko – the Japanese drum show- and the Mikoshi at the finale were the most anticipated on the schedule.

“A picture tells a thousand words, but not necessarily the whole story”, this quote give an enlightenment to me on this bright Sunday morning. I feel obligated to share my experience on one of the biggest photography events in the world, not only by pictures also this short article. This year Sony and World Photo Organisation recorded over 200,000 photo submissions from 210 countries. I was beyond grateful to be awarded for the second consecutive year after winning an award last year. In 2017 I was selected as the winner of Indonesia National Award, and in 2018 I became the winner of Motion Category in Open Competition and the winner of Indonesia National Award. This has been the peak experience of my photography journey since I clicked my first image in 2005. If you’re curious about my winning pictures, please see below:

This year also a great achievement for Indonesia and Malaysia as we represented South East Asia for the photographer of the year nomination. I, Fajar Kristianto nominated for Open Competition and Mohd. Samsul. Mohd Said nominated for Professional Competition. He won the Current Affairs and News category – Professional Competition.

On this wonderful opportunity I’d would like to thank Sony South East Asia and Sony Indonesia for arranging unforgettable trips.

What could be better than winning a photography award, the prize from Sony, and a trip to UK? Yes, winning it twice. On this part I’d like to share about the trip in 2017 and 2018. On both trips I tried my best to spend my time for taking pictures and exploring the cities we went. But wait, Sony also equipped us with the newest camera and lenses in the market. We were given chances to try them out.

UK Trip (2017 and 2018)

In 2017, besides London, the South East Asia group went to Brighton, Sussex, and a winery manufacture. I was more than excited to pair my Sony A7R Mark II with Sony SEL 70-200 F/2.8 G Master and Sony SEL 24-70 F/2.8 G Master lenses. Here are some shots from the trip:

In 2018, besides London, we went to Cotswolds, Worchestershire, and Hook Norton Brewery Manufacture. During this trip I challenge myself to use one lens for covering the whole trip, though I changed on some shots. I paired my Sony A7R Mark II with Sony FE 12-24 F/4 G lens. Here are some of them:

It’s more than just a trip. Sony World Photography Awards not only has gained the exposure towards my works but also connected me with talented photographers around the world. I expanded my knowledge and networks during the trip. Between events on our itinerary we went together taking pictures and discussed about many things not limited to photography.

Here are some pictures of us:

I can’t thank enough to Sony for the accommodation during the trip. We stayed in great hotels in the central London (Seriously it’s only 15 minutes away from the Buckingham Palace), in Brighton with great sunset, and centuries preserved building and castle in Cotswolds area. Sony also hosted lunches and dinners at famous restaurants.

For photography enthusiasts and everyone who read this short blog, I encourage you to explore your visual creativity and submit your works to Sony World Photography Awards 2019. They will open for submissions in June 2018 until January 2019.